Carney in Davos: Capitalists of the world, unite!

Editor’s Note: This commentary was first posted by the author on their social media on Jan. 21, 2026 after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20, 2026.

Without saying the words, he clearly implied that call.

Carney used a poorly chosen anecdote attributed to “the Czech dissident Václav Havel” (last President of Czechoslovakia and first of the Czech Republic) who in 1978 wrote about a fictitious shopkeeper who placed a sign in his window reading “Workers of the world, unite!” “He places the sign … – to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the [communist] system persists.”

Carney’s point is that today “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety.”

Putting aside the insult of criticizing one of the most historically important statements from the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – document that is still relevant to the government of China with which Carney has just “concluded new strategic partnerships” – he forgets that Canada has had its own sign on the window for decades forcing Canadians for compliance with US policies and bending the political will backward in order to accommodate with what he now calls the “hegemon.”

But Carney’s speech fails to suggest that Canadian policies will be any different in the future.

He claims that “Canada is calibrating our relationships so their depth reflects our values.”

Is he really?

He also said, “We are doubling our defence spending by 2030.” Which Canadian value will that go under? Defending Canada from whom? Canada’s only enemy seems to be what he calls the “hegemon.”

He refers to the fact that Canada has recently agreed to join the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE), a €150 billion defence initiative funding European defence industry, making Canada the first non-EU country to participate.

This seems to be just a switch in “strategic” partnership on fear mongering more than a realistic defence from a “hegemon” supposedly keen about invading Canada. How different is this partnership from the recent one with China who also appears to be in the crosshair of EU aggression?

Carney spelled out Canada as “a core member of the Coalition of the Willing and one of the largest per-capita contributors to [Ukraine] defence and security.” He also stated that Canada “stand[s] firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support[s] their unique right to determine Greenland’s future” and “Arctic sovereignty.”

However, he didn’t make a single reference to Palestinians rights nor to Israel’s widely recognized genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Carney did not express any concern about the “hegemon’s” invasion of sovereign Venezuela and the violent kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores who are now languishing in a US prison.

Perhaps, Carney’s strongest and damning statements in Davos were “We are working with our NATO allies” and “Our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s position at the World Economic Forum is unmistakably consistent with the neo-conservative ideology. His message is addressed to those nervous capitalists who see Trump’s policies and demands that disrupt an “order” that was previously predictable but no longer is.

Carney is correct in saying that there is a “rupture in the world order” but he fails to suggest what the new order should look like. In fact, whatever is the order he has in mind, it is definitely not addressed to the “workers of the world.”

He has just replaced the old Canadian sign pledging compliance to imperialism, with a similar sign with different wording but similar meaning, Capitalists of the world, unite!

Nino Pagliccia is an activist, writer and former statistician based in Vancouver.